Yoga May Prevent Migraines

Gentle yoga postures, breathing techniques, and relaxation exercises are believed to have a calming effect on the nervous system, and studies have suggested that yoga can help alleviate various forms of pain such as chronic back pain or arthritis. Researchers in India discovered that yoga might even help reduce the frequency and intensity of migraine headaches.

A study was conducted with 72 migraine sufferers, and each one was assigned to one of two groups. One group received education on managing their pain by avoiding migraine triggers and making diet and lifestyle changes. The other group received yoga therapy, which included gentle yoga postures, breathing practices, relaxation and meditation. Participants practiced 5 days a week for one hour each day, except on days when they were having a migraine attack or just recovering from one.

I'm happy to report that after 3 months, the yoga group showed an overall reduction in the frequency and intensity of their migraines. The other group showed either no change at all, or symptoms that actually worsened.

See? I told you yoga was good for your body and mind. It's great to see researchers are performing studies to back up the amazing benefits so many people have already experienced from yoga.

Fit's Tips: The next time you are suffering from a horrible migraine, give these techniques a try.

The "results" are basically the same thing that John Hopkins Research found out last year which is that true migraineurs during attacks suffer from a severe lack of oxygen to the brain, which results in brain damage which cause more migraines and eventually can lead to stroke or coma or personal changes (me) or memory loss (me) or numerous other highly unpleasant effects. And deep breathing exercises and putting migraineurs on O2, helps to reduce the pain from the migraine, the duration, the frequency and moreover the brain damage that migraineurs suffer from the lack of oxygen to the brain.
Since yoga involves focused deep breathing it sounds like oxygen saturation is the key not necessaryily the activity used to achieve the saturation.